How to Improve your Relationships Using Active Empathy

Bonding communally through music is a form of active empathy

The power in listening without allowing your emotions or judgment to cloud the message the other person or self is trying to convey. The power to heal yourself, your family, and your community. Active Empathy is a skill anyone can learn that focuses your attention and intention in a manner to understand the details below the surface.

For self:

With time and patience, Active Empathy within the self takes the forms of meditation and intense self-reflection from a third-person perspective. 

That is to say, you examine who you are as if you were a stranger or another person. Think about your habits, your emotions, your anxiety, your desires, your fears, and your driving motivations. 

What makes you want to be lazy? What makes you want to wake up at 4 am to go for that run? What makes you want to pursue that goal or lack of goal? 

Why do I succumb to anger, angst, and anxiety? What are the root causes of these emotions? Why do I give specific people so much power over a specific emotion? 

What are my triggers? What habits do I perform when I’m triggered? 

Using these methods to improve your self-awareness and understanding of the internalized being 

We can use many techniques that provoke Active Empathy within our stream of consciousness as a long-term strategy to curb trauma-rooted behavior or unwanted habits. 

Don’t talk to share, Next time you are with someone, simply listen and guide the conversation through them.

For others:

Active Empathy applied to others can help us achieve healthier habits of communication and relationships. 

It can help us build more productive lines of communication between others who may come off as threatening, antagonistic, or avoidant. Becoming aware of nuisances that may be subtle can affect how one speaks or presents themselves to the world. 

Maybe that one person who is always grumpy isn’t necessarily mad at you. Maybe there are other external factors affecting their well-being that they choose not to talk to you about, but that still impact your life through their behavior and rude communicative action. 

We may never know for certain what the underlying issue is with others, but becoming aware of the potential that exists in other lives can dramatically improve how you manage and communicate with others. It will also improve the emotional instability that can come from dealing with those types of social situations. 

For instance, when I am in this type of social environment when someone appears to be speaking from an antagonistic voice. I internally remind myself of this fact. And it allows me to not take things personally and to improve or preserve emotional well-being. 

This practice long-term can benefit your relationships and allow you to build a broader branch of relationships with more diverse groups of people. 

Have you ever seen a swarm of birds gracefully flying in as if they were coordinating together? Flawlessly

For Community:

Active empathy applied as a community can allow for greater connectivity and awareness of the needs of others within the community. The community we speak about may take the form of a team, a company, a neighborhood, or a city. 

Building a greater sense of empathy between each other can allow for a smoother process as your community deals with problems and comes up with solutions. 

Goco Goes seeks to implement activities within our experiences that allow for people to practice these techniques and broaden their perspectives during their travels. 

Our goal as a company is to activate people’s consciousness and to heal together through joy and travel. 

Goco